The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-13
THE VICTIM OF CIGARETTES.
They are Largely to Blame for the
Death of Young Knevals.
From the Ne,v York IVor

From the Ne,U York World.
When Russell H. Knevals, the medical
student, was found dead in bed Thursday
| at the house of his father, the late President
Arthur's former law partner, at No. 81 East
Fifty eighth street, groundlesS rumors of
suicide and opium poisoning were circu-
lated. He was more the victim of tobacco
| in the shape of cigarettes than OF anything
| else. Yesterday Coroner NJ. j. B. MESSENGER
| made an autopsy, rather against the
wishes of Mrs Knevals, and last
evening he gave the results of it as fol
| lows to a reporter: 81 found the heart
| fiabby and fatty and a decided enlargement
of the liver and spleen-both the results of
| the tobacco habit" he said. The stomach
| and kidneys We're normal, but the brain was
| congested. l should say that death ensued
| from congestion of the brain, aggravated
| by tobacco heart and accompanied by a
congestive chill. The chill resulted from
| malaria caused by sewer gas, as the street
has been torn up; but as the deceased was a
great cigarette smoker think the habit re-
suited in congestion of the brain.
You see it is not every man who can
| smoke with impunity and although Mr..
knevalS was - years old and a stout man,
it resulted in his death. There is nicotine
i'll tobacco, whether manufactured into
cigars, cigarettes, chewing or smoking to
bacco, and the result is always the same
poison. Stout, dark and sallow people are
not as apt to be poisoned as thin, light
complexioned persons-at least that is the
result of my observations at Mount Sinai
Hospital, where l have had many
my charge. l noticed that nervous
men and boys were troubled with inter
mittent heart pulsations in greater proper
ton to women and girls. In most cases tho
males used tobacco and the females did not.
The pulsatons of the heart would be regu-
lar in tone and note, say for eight or ten pull
sations, and then there would be an inter
mission or suspension of two pulsations.
The Germans call this 'tabackherZ,' or to-
bacco heart. Tobacco contains two deadly
posous, nicotine, and empyreumatic oil,
the antidotes for which are tannin and caf-
feline. or strong coffee. One drop of nico-
tine, in a state of concentrated solution
would Immediately destroy dog. and birds
perish at the approach of tube containing
the fluid, the mere smell killing them. To
bacco moderately taken in any form quiets
restlessness, Gains mental and corporal in
quietude, and produces a general languor or
repose which has great charms to those
habituated to the impression it creates. A
liberal use OF the narcotic gives rise to con-
fusion Of the head, vertigo, stupor, faintness,
nausea, vomiting and a general depression
of the nervous and circnlatory functions
which, if increased, eventuates in alarming
and even fatal protration, as was the case
with young Knevals The symptoms of its
excessive use and action are severe retchiug,
distressing and continued nausea, feeble
pulse, GOODNESS of the skin, fainting and con-
vusions. The symptoms of tobacco heart are
coated tongue, sluggish pulse and heart,
an anxious haggard expression, heavy
bleared eyes with the whites discolored to
saffron, and worst of all, the intermittent
heart pulsations.
Manufactured tobacco contains more
nicotine than the raw material. and combus-
ton while smoking always increases the
quantity. believe that pipe which al
lows the partial evaporation or absorption of
nicotine the best.-or rather the least harm
lcss-smoke. The cigar which allows some
evaporation by its wrapper, is far less in
furious than the paper-wrapped cigarette,
as the paper neither absorbs nor permits tho
evaporation Of nicotine. | smoke perhaps
ten cigars day without harm, but ! should
never think Of smoking ten cigarettes.
Grant smoked vast quantities of strong
cigars, which only affected his throat and
not his heart. but few men could have done
it, Young Knevals is said to have smoked
sixty cigarettes day. That's fearful
DOSE
The remains Of Mr.. Knevals were inferred
at Woodlawn yesterday.